Quality of peach palm heart minimally processed

Abstract

The peach palm heart is a hypocaloric gourmet vegetable, rich in fiber and minerals such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium, and it can be incorporated into calorie restriction diets. Minimum processing consists of sanitizing and cutting the products before reaching the consumer, providing convenience to consumption without losing its quality, thus resulting in sufficient shelf life for distribution and marketing. Sanitation, appropriate packaging, and refrigeration are essential practices to extend the shelf life of minimally processed products. Therefore, this study evaluated the quality of peach palm heart produced in Pariquera-Açu – SP, minimally processed in the form of chopped cut and stick, packed in different plastic packages and kept under refrigeration (10 ± 0.5 °C and 85 ± 5% RH) for 9 days. Hearts-of-palm, in chopped cut and stick, packed in PET and PP trays with lids, had their fresh masses and luminosity preserved for 9 days, but there was a failure in the sealing of the lid, which allowed gas exchange with the environment, compromising its quality. The peach palm heart cut in stick, packed in a stretchable PVC coated PE tray, provided protection and efficiency in maintaining quality. The packaging of chopped hearts-of-palm in LDPE packages (0.04 and 0.07 mm), over the storage time, resulted in a high CO2 concentration inside the package, thus, these packages are not recommended.